Who We Are

TeamCFA is a national network of free, public charter schools, built on the values of hard work, good citizenship, and teamwork.

Our ultimate goal is to graduate thoughtful, articulate youth who are prepared to become productive, accountable, engaged citizens. We do so by ensuring that the Core Knowledge Sequence—a research-based, coherent, cumulative, content-specific K–8 curricular sequence in the language arts, history and geography, mathematics, science, art, and music—is implemented with fidelity. In TeamCFA schools, Core Knowledge content is infused into the teaching of skills such as reading and writing.

Schools in the TeamCFA network gain access to startup funding, grants, training, services, the Core Knowledge curriculum, and—in some cases—the necessary facilities. Within 5–7 years, schools become self-sustaining, and contribute to the thriving, collaborative network.

Our Mission

To support the development of academically rigorous, financially sustainable TeamCFA charter schools by employing proven academic, business and governance practices and leveraging the free market to support the broader school choice movement.

A Commitment to Citizenship

TeamCFA Citizenship Statement

TeamCFA, a nonprofit network of public charter schools, strives to educate American citizens: citizens who know our nation’s founding documents through and through, citizens who appreciate what a privilege it is to be an American.

TeamCFA wants its students to treasure the self-evident truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and “that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

TeamCFA also wants its students to understand and value the balance of rights and powers established in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the other constitutional amendments: our form of republican self-government in which individuals, states, and the federal government all play a part. We want our students to value their freedom and to respect the limits of political power, for as the Bill of Rights states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Throughout their lives, thanks to our nation’s founding documents, graduates of TeamCFA schools will use their liberty to pursue happiness in their communities and in their families, in their work and in their leisure, in economic life and in political life. As they do so, we hope they will be ever mindful of how privileged they are to be Americans, and that they will strive to pass on this heritage to generations yet unborn.

School Choice

Every child deserves access to a quality education — regardless of zip code. School choice creates healthy competition among schools, and gives parents greater control of their child’s education.

Foundational Support

CFA stands for Challenge Foundation Academy, and recognizes the Challenge Foundation’s instrumental role in the TeamCFA model. In 2010, Challenge Foundation established TeamCFA Foundation (formerly Academy Leadership Foundation in Action) to provide long-term, meaningful support to all CFAs, and enhance the growth of the TeamCFA network.

Together, these foundations make it possible for CFAs to reach self-sustainability and growth goals within 5–7 years of founding.

Upcoming Events

Join the movement to build strong schools.

TeamCFA helps build stronger schools for a stronger nation. We support a growing network of free, public charter schools, providing the proven academic, governance, and business tools needed to graduate thoughtful and engaged youth.